Foundation garment



March 30, 1937.

R. T. ALLIS FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed July '29, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR frazi ATTORNEY March 30, 1937 S 2,075,565

FOUNDAT ION GARMENT Filed July 29, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO R N EY Patented Mar. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNDATION GARMENT Application July 29, 1933, Serial No. 682,744

1 Claim.

This invention relates to garments of the kind commonly known as foundation garments and may be applied, as an inner belt, to the ordinary corset; or to the type of garment that combines a corset and brassiere; or it may form the front section of a girdle or belt.

The main object of the invention is to provide a garment that will be adjustable to the body of the wearer; that will lift up and support the abdomen and at the same time flatten it; that will restrain or flatten and redistribute and reduce excess flesh, thus producing a garment that will yield to the different postures of the body, present a smooth foundation for the outer garments and act as a support for the abdomen.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment of the character described in which the uplifting and abdomen-flattening functions may be exercised, at the will of the wearer, to a variable degree.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following description.

The invention is embodied in one concrete and preferred form in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a front elevation of a garment of the character described with the front broken away to show the general construction of the support with the uplifting and flattening member shown partly in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary inverted View of the support;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3, 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a modified form of the uplifting and flattening member;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation showing a modification of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of a modification of the form shown in Fig. 4.

In the accompanying drawings:

l designates the body portion of a garment of the character described to which is attached, so as to extend across the front, a support or belt 2, this support being attached at both sides or ends to the body portion I either directly or, as here illustrated, by means of tabs la, lb, secured to and projecting from said body portion, l, or in any other suitable manner. The support 2 comprises a restraining member 3, having its outer ends 3a removably adjustably attached to the body portion l, and an uplifting and flattening member 4, the latter secured to the lower part of the restraining member 3 with its outer ends 4a free of the restraining member 3 but attached,

independently of the member 3, to the body portion I; and these outer ends 4a are, preferably, removably and adjustably attached, as shown in Fig. 2, to the body portion l but they may be permanently secured as in the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The restraining member 3, as here illustrated, comprises a central reinforced portion 3b, which, under strain bears against the body of the wearer to restrain and redistribute excess flesh, and end portions provided with inserts 3d, of elastic webbing or other suitable material, to give flexibility and extensibility to the restraining member 3.

The uplifting and flattening member 4 comprises two portions 41), 41), one on each side of the center of said support 2 in angular relation to each other, the bottom edges of said portions being inclined upwardly away from the center in the direction of its outer ends 4a. These portions 42), 47) may consist of one part or band 4d as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 or may comprise two bands 46, 4] in angular overlapped relation to each other as shown in Figs. 1, 2. and 5 in which case the outer ends of the bands 46 and 4] are fastened together, the lower band 4e and the lower edge of the band 411 being instrumental in the lifting function and the upper band dj and upper part of band 4d being effective in the flattening functions of support 2. All of the bands 401, 4c, 4 are of resilient material, preferably elastic webbing, and when the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 6 is used, band M is preferably of greater depth than either of the bands 4e, 4 of the construction of Figs. 1, 2 and 5.

The body portion I is provided at each side with tabs I a and lb for attachment of the members 3 and 4 independently of each other to the body portion but any suitable means for so attaching these two members may, of course, be employed.

The outer ends 30. of the restraining member 3 and the tabs lot are each provided with component members of fastening means for removably and adjustably attaching the restraining member 3 to the tab a and thereby to body portion I, said fastening means here illustrated being an eyeand-lacing arrangement, the eyes l'a', carried by tabs la for engagement with lacing 5 being greater in numer than, and so arranged in respect to the eyes 3a carried by the ends 3a. of the restraining member, also for engagement with lacing 5, as to admit of vertical adjustment of the restraining member 3 so that it may be raised and low ered on the body at the will of the wearer to vary the degree of uplift and flattening exerted by the support 2 when circumferential strain is exerted on restraining member 3 by means of lacing 5. Any fastening means suitable for the adjustment above described may be employed, such as the usual eyelet-and-lacing means, or the usual hook-and-eye arrangement, the eye-and-lacing arrangement here shown being novel and is described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,017,679 dated October 15, 1935.

As here illustrated, the outer ends 4a of uplifting and flattening member 4 is attached to body portion I by means of tab lb and, as stated above, may be permanently secured thereto by any suitable means or removably and adjustably attached, the latter being effected, as here shown, by a hook-and-eye arrangement, there being a plurality of vertical rows of eyes I b" carried by tab lb and a vertical row of hooks 4a along the outer edge 4a of the member 4 for engagement with the eyes ib by means of which the pressure exerted by member 4 may be varied, the pressure being greatest when the hooks 4a engage that vertical row of eyes lb farthest from the free edge of tab lb.

By engaging the topmost one of the eyes 3a by means of lacing 5 with the topmost one of the eyes la, the restraining member 3 may be adjusted to its highest position on the body and may be lowered by engaging the topmost one of the eyes 3a with one of the eyes la below the topmost, the lowermost position on the body occurring when the lowermost one of the eyes 3a engages with the lowermost one of eyes la.

The uplifting and flattening member 4 is not at its outer ends adjustable in an up and down direction but those ends are in substantially fixed vertical position when support 2 has been adjusted on the body; but at its center, being attached to member 3, its longitudinal position may be varied by varying the vertical position of member 3, thus varying the tension or strains on member 4 and consequently the degree of uplift and pressure exerted by member 4 on the body. When the member 3 is in its lowermost position its 8 center and consequently the center of member 4 is below the horizontal or circumferential plane of the ends 40. of the member 4 and circumferential strain, here exerted by lacing 5, on member 3 will cause the lower edge (Figs. 4 and 6) or the lower band 4e (Figs. 1, 2 and 5), of member 4 to cup under and thereby lift up the abdomen and the upper part (Figs. 4 and 6), or upper band 4] (Figs. 1, 2 and 5), of member 4 to press against and flatten the abdomen. By raising the member 3 into a higher position on the body, the center of the member 4 is drawn up nearer to or into the same horizontal or circumferential plane as the ends of said member thus lessening the tension upon said member and thereby the degree of cupping and pressure and consequently the degree of uplift and flattening without however affecting the degree of restraint exerted by member 3 which restraint may be varied by circumferential strain on member 3 here exerted by the lacing 5.

When member 3 is in its uppermost position, the tension upon member 4 will be less than in lower positions and consequently circumferential strain on member 3 will produce a lesser degree of uplift and flattening while the restraining or reducing influence of member 3 may be increased or decreased as desired.

I claim:

In a garment of the character described, the combination with a body portion to be worn around the body, of a support extending across the front of said garment and attached to said body portion, said support comprising: a vertically and circumferentially adjustable restraining member and an uplifting and flattening mem ber attached independently of each other to said body portion and secured together at their respective girthwise centers at the lower part of said restraining member in overlapped relation to each other so that vertical adjustment of said restraining member will vary the relative position of the center of said uplifting and flattening member with respect to its outer ends when they are attached to said body portion thereby to vary the extent of uplift and flattening exerted by said uplifting and flattening member, and means for vertically and circumferentially adjusting said restraining member.

ROBERT T. ALLIS. 

